The present invention relates to a connector and, more specifically, to a connector for receiving a cable such as a flexible printed circuit.
Conventionally, in order to connect a flexible circuit member, typically referred to as a flexible printed circuit (FPC) or a flexible flat cable (FFC), to another circuit member, a cable connector has been used. (See, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (Kokai) No. H10-12331.) For convenience, such FPC and FFC are hereinafter referred to as FPC.
As shown in FIG. 18, the conventional cable connector has a housing 801 made of an insulative material such as a synthetic resin and a plurality of terminals 804 made of a conductive material such as a metal, each of which is held in the housing 801. Further, an actuator 802 made of an insulation material such as a synthetic resin is rotatably mounted on an upper surface of the housing, so that the actuator 802 may rotate between an open position (illustrated in FIG. 18) and a closed position.
A metal plate support fitting member 811 is positioned on each of the opposite sides of the housing 801 and includes a circular shaft bore 812 formed thereon, so that a support shaft 806 projected from each of the respective sides of actuator 802 is rotatably inserted in the shaft bore 812. The actuator 802 can rotate about the support shafts 806 on the opposite sides with respect to the housing 801.
When the actuator 802 is moved to the open position thereof, an FPC may be inserted into the connector from an open front portion of the housing 801. After insertion of the FPC to the back of the housing 801, the actuator 802 is manually rotated to the closed position thereof by a finger or the like of an operator. In such position, a locking projection 807 formed on each side of the actuator 802 is engaged in an engagement hole 813 formed on the metal support fitting member 811 and, therefore, the actuator 802 is locked relative to the housing 801. The FPC is engaged by the locked actuator 802 from above, and conductive contact pads (not shown) on the lower surface of the FPC contacts the terminals 804.
In such a conventional cable connector, upon opening or closing actuator 802, the locking projections 807 of actuator 802 engages against the periphery of the respective engagement holes 813 of the support fitting member 811. Since locking projections 807 are made of plastic and support fitting member 811 is made of metal, the locking projections will eventually be subject to wear. Therefore, the operational durability of the actuator 802 and thus the durability of the entire FPC connector may be degraded.
Another conventional cable connector (not shown) in which a locking projection provided on the actuator engages a plastic locking portion on the housing. According to such a conventional cable connector, the locking projection of the actuator is made of plastic and the locking portion of the housing it engages is similarly made of plastic so that abrasion of the locking projection is reduced. However, in such a conventional FPC connector, the strength of a support member supporting the locking projection must be reduced. In the alternative, if the support member is made thicker in order to improve the strength of the locking portion, the size of the housing must be increased and this in turn brings about an increase in the size of the entire cable connector.